Manifestdefined

Manifestdefined is a term used in software engineering to describe resources, components, or configurations whose state and metadata are defined in a manifest file or set of manifest files, rather than being constructed or inferred by code at runtime. It emphasizes a declarative approach in which the manifest serves as the authoritative source of truth for what should exist and how it should behave.

In practice, manifestdefined resources are created by applying or processing a manifest. In Android development, the AndroidManifest.xml file declares application components, permissions, and integration with the system; such elements are manifest-defined. In Kubernetes, YAML manifests describe Deployments, Services, ConfigMaps, and other resources; the platform ensures that the actual cluster state converges to the manifest-defined desired state. In web applications, a web app manifest (manifest.webmanifest) declares metadata for progressive web apps, including name, icons, display mode, and start URL; these assets are described as manifest-defined resources. In packaging and distribution workflows, manifests in JSON, YAML, or XML can list dependencies, entry points, supported platforms, and resource references, guiding build and deployment tools to assemble or deploy artifacts.

Benefits include reproducibility, portability, and easier auditing, since the manifest provides a single source of truth. Limitations include the need for robust tooling to validate manifests, the risk of drift between declared state and runtime state, and the maintenance burden of keeping manifests synchronized with evolving requirements.

This term is used descriptively for declarative configuration and is not a formal standard.